Apprentice Software Engineer Review

Apprentice software engineers at Arm have the opportunity to rotate through software engineering teams every year. Each of these teams are in a cutting edge area, where as an apprentice we are given low-pressure but still equally 'real' and important tasks to our group and company. Apprentices at arm are fully integrated into their team, and are treated as full team members, although are given more leeway, time and support with tasks. All line managers and team members across all teams are incredibly supportive, and are always happy to give time whether that's to teach me a new concept, pair with me and guide me through something, or just talk about something I need. We are always given plenty of time for our university work as well.

As apprentices in arm, we rotate through several teams. We're encouraged to select teams in different areas each year, and are provided help with picking a team that can supplement our knowledge and skills. Arm as a company is in a uniquely excellent position to give this breadth of skills and experiences that is needed for a rounded software engineer education. From web development, to performance engineering, assembly optimisation, GPU programming, LLMs, solutions and many many more- having this range of opportunity is something that we won't likely ever get again in our careers, and most won't get ever. I've learnt so many skills in so many areas, the one year rotation length allows us to get a good deal of depth in our skills, while the 3 rotations allow a breadth which makes us incredibly skilful in a wide range of areas. This is much furthered by Arm's incredibly skilled staff, who are all industry leaders and everyone from chief architects to vice presidents and principle engineers are all happy to chat and provide help to the apprentices. I've also developed lots of soft skills, thanks to the many opportunities arm provides to both it's apprentices, early careers in general, and all staff. This includes regular 'Doughnuts' sessions hosted by groups within the business, teaching new skills and technologies bi-weekly. There are also opportunities to go to external events, all apprentices are granted access to the O'Reilly book library, and linkedin learning- along with access to full training courses hosted externally and budget for purchasing textbooks.

The programme is incredibly enjoyable. On the learning side, our lecturers are enthusiastic and provide assignments that are challenging, but exciting and new. On the work side, our tasks are never re-inventing something. Arm is on the edge of research and development, we're given groundbreaking and, I can't stress this enough, real tasks that are of actual use to both the business, and technology as a field. Furthermore we have regular hosted, funded, social events both by the apprentices and by our work groups, which are very enjoyable.

The programme is well structured and works well, The early careers team are approachable, skilled and experienced and are open to answering any questions you might have. They are suitably transparent, and friendly. Although one weakness in this area though is they didn't seem to have a plan for how they would convert apprentices to graduates until it actually had to happen for the first time. While the interviewing experience for joining the program was exceptional- very good, the actual administrative side from our talent acquisitions was very weak, including many delays to deliver the contract. This theme continues with both the graduate program and hiring across the business.

Arm provides a lot of resources to help me with my learning, including - Skilled industry experts who are happy to speak to me within arm - Access to the Oreilly book library - Access to linkedin learning (including some curated pathways for apprentices) - Managers are happy for you to take more time for your learning if you need more time for assignments etc. - Managers are also very invested in making sure your learning is going well, your assignments are on track, and your work is meeting the end point assessment requirments.

BPP are very supportive, especially the lecturers who are very enthusiastic and happy to help. My one suggestion for BPP would be that currently the lectures, which are online, are very one-way due to the inability for students to talk. We can only chat or react, which does lead to a bit of a chasm and a very non interactive experience.

The degree (Digital technology solutions), even with the software engineering pathway, I feel is not very well grounded in the reality of what a software engineers day to day job actually entails. In our third year software engineering module, after we have been software engineering for 2 and a half years, the lecturers spent 2 hours teaching the basics of javascript, including selection, variables and iteration. Something that if a software engineering apprentice didn't understand by that point would surely indicate they had spent the last 2 years not doing their job at all. I don't believe this is the fault of BPP or ARM, since all universities are bound by the governments requirements, hence the 6/10.

There are many extra curricular activities at work. We have social events held by every group within arm quarterly, alongside events held by the apprentice social committee which is formed of apprentices who organise and host very fun events on a regular basis for all the apprentices. The apprentice social committee also host events with the graduates and interns which allows us to meet other people our age, which was a concern for me as I joined straight from sixth form and not through university- such as a hackathon hosted last year. We also have a few sports teams, and regular volunteering activities, of which arm gives us half a day every month to do. There are also regular talks and other social events.

Yes

I have, and will continue to recommend and refer friends to Arm, It's an incredibly open and friendly company, which is in my opinion the right level of 'corporateness'. We have processes in place to make things easier for everyone, but the processes are not overwhelming, talking to people directly is the primary way of getting things done. The people are trusted to get their work done, including apprentices, and everyone does. We have hybrid working, flexible hours, and a DEI program which is thriving despite a large majority of other companies deciding to kill them as soon as there was slight opposition to them in the US. I can't really sell it in any better way than friendly, and tries to enable you to be the best you can be- rather than limiting you.

The apprentice program looks more for your passion rather than your inherent knowledge.